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Take a look at these custom-madePortal 2Personality SpheresbyChrisMyles. There’s a Hello Kitty one! Funny how these characters had such an impact when all but Wheatley got barely any screen time. I’m still deathly afraid that the meme-ruining community at large will go overboard with the Space Sphere. In fact, I think they already have. And I’m not helping the situation either. Sh*t. Portal 2 Personality Spheres in the Palm of Your Hand[SFX-360 viaTomopop]...

I realize I suggested otherwise at the end of last week’s Podtoid, but this week’s episode won’t be an hour-long discussion between Jaffe and me about the place of “fun” in games. We’d planned to record something Friday night, but the dude never got back to me. In place of any sort of highfalutin games-as-art discussion, we’ll be having a more or less regular episode (sans Linde). Topics of discussion will include: Dreamcast memories, the moral question of playing leaked copies before release,Project Needlemouse, andthe purpose of difficulty....

So I’m finally back from Los Angeles, recovering from E3, and working my way throughAmerican McGee’s Alice Madness Returns. It’s out today, and while I figured I’d be done with it by now, this is a game that features some of the longest stretches of single chapters that I’ve ever played. That’s not entirely a bad thing, as I’ll get into when my review goes live. While you wait for my verdict, I figured I’d share something I came across today while exploring Wonderland....

Narutofans rejoice, because Namco Bandai has another game headed your way.Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna Driveis a PSP exclusive that’s coming out February 22. I got a chance to play it on Wednesday, and I thought I’d share my impressions with you. The game is a nice mix of beat ‘em up ninja-punching action coupled with some RPG elements to keep things interesting, but the core element of the gameplay is teamwork. That makes it sound lame, but when you’re beating up a pack of wild dogs, it’s more fun....

Unless you want to have your day ruined, I suggest you bypass clicking on the above video.Dancing with the Starsis exactly what it sounds like, and indicative of the kind of thing that will outsellMetroidandSuper Smash Bros. Brawl. Now YOU can look like a complete and utter douche, as if EA’sBoogiejust wasn’t humiliating enough for you.For some reason, I’ve included another trailer beyond the jump, but I don’t expect you to click on it....

This morning, Activision has confirmed what retailers have been saying all along —Prototypewill be hitting North American retailers on June 9. Europeans can pick up the game a few days early (and leak it to the Internet ASAP, probably) on June 5. Not much more to say on this, other than I’m personally looking forward to the game’s release. It was back at NY Comic-Con that I first got my hands on the game, and was surprised at how much fun I had tearing up the few cities blocks they were letting me play in....

For the most part,we likedPrototype. I would — and did — encourage you to run out and buy it. But I’m sure some of you were still on the fence, unable to see howPrototypewasblatantly betterthan other, third-person games featuring superpowered protagonists. Well, perhaps Amazon can sway you towards the path of reason today. They have the title slashed by twenty dollars across all platforms. In other words, it’s $40 for either the PS3 or 360 versions, while PC users can snag it for $30....

Capcom has released two new gameplay videos from their upcoming action survival horror game,Resident Evil 5. Both videos show off the two new levelsI got to play on the other nightat Capcom’s Winter Multiplayer event. In the above video, you’ll see Chris Redfield taking on various Ganados as well as Dr. Salvador’s cousin. The very first part of the video is taking place just before the giant Bat boss fight while the rest of the video takes place at the oil refinery level....

Capcom has announced that the Wii-exclusiveResident Evil: The Darkside Chronicleswill be available in stores on November 17 in North America. This is exactly what’s been listed by retailer GameStopsince June, so no surprises here. If you’re in Europe, you’ll have to wait until November 27, though. The perk? A special bundle, featuring the game and the official Nintendo Zapper. It’s picture above, and it’s pretty sexy. Pew pew, indeed. As a reminder, GameStop isoffering an awesomepre-order item for this game....

So my cell phone rings tonight — it’s from phone number “000-000-0000.” Weird, but since I haven’t paid for the TimeLifeMysteries of the Unknownbook sets I bought in the 80s, I figure it’s a bill collector. Whoever it is leaves a message, and after pulling myself away fromPixelJunk Eden, I check my voice mail. It’s a recorded message, much of it is partially cut off, and it’s not coming in very clear....

Scribblenautshas been one of the most eagerly anticipated DS games of the year, if not the biggest. Its concept was ambitious and its charm captivated all who saw it in the run up to the game’s release. A game where you can write almost anything you could imagine to conjure objects, people and monsters seems almost too amazing to be true. In a way, it kind of is. 5th Cell’s latest portable outing is brilliant, don’t get me wrong, but the genius of the concept and the realization of ambition have been tarnished by frustrating controls, vague objectives and the fact that, despite having over 22,000 items to interact with, a vast majority of them are basically worthless....

In a recent interview withIndustryGamers,Ultimacreator Richard Garriott mentioned an interest in working with the series’ current owner, EA, on another installment in the iconic franchise. The space faring developer brought up the sensitive topic ofUltimaduring a discussion on EA’s Origin. Garriott’s studio, disbanded by EA in 2004, was Origin Systems. However he seemed unphazed by the publisher’s use of the name. Instead, he decided to bring upUltima. I hope thatUltimadoes survive forever, yet I also, of course, have my own very particular ideas for what Ultima can and should become over time and so we’ll see if they do things quite the way I would do them… since I’m not there at the moment,”...

Fridays are Friday, so that means that next week’s Rock Band Music Store update has been announced. Excited? We’re looking at two packs next week, for a total of eight songs you can add to your collection: Warped Tour Pack($8.49/620 MS Points, or $1.99/160 MS Points per track)A Day to Remember – “The Downfall of Us All”Bad Religion – “21st Century Digital Boy”Chiodos – “I Didn’t Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was a Wizard”Escape the Fate – “The Flood”Underoath – “Reinventing Your Exit”...